


The Birthday

by kate_taylor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birthday, M/M, Marauders' Era, Moony - Freeform, Padfoot - Freeform, Prongs - Freeform, Wormtail - Freeform, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 19:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5139941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate_taylor/pseuds/kate_taylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In honour of the very first official celebration of Sirius' birthday, I put together a little fiction of the first time the Mauraders celebrated the occasion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Birthday

"Just leave it, Moony. Alright?" 

Sirius shoved his hands into his pockets and gave his friend a warning glance, which he knew would shut him up. The kid was great, but there were times when he really didn't know when to stop pestering and asking questions, and he was full of them. All that Sirius wanted to do for today was keep his head down, get through the day without a fuss, and have it be November 4th already. 

_What's wrong, Sirius?_

_You seem moody today. I mean, more than your usual._

_Are you ill?_

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings. And no, he wasn't sick, although it might have been easier to tell Remus he was starting to get a migraine from the line of questioning he was being subjected to. No, the only thing that was wrong with him today was that it was his birthday, and he hated his birthday. Years of being showered with unnecessary gifts from his family (green sweatshirts, Slytherin embossed potions kits, new broomsticks every year. It didn't matter if he favoured something he already owned, because it would soon be thrown away and replaced by the newer and better thing. It was frustrating as he could never tell his parents he didn't need all these things. Not until he sorted into Gryffidor did the gifts stop all together. At first it was nice. He could keep his old clothes, his old broom, and his gryffindor stuff without it being replaced on him. But at the years went on, it started to grate at him, as not even a card would come through the morning post. 

Between all his friends, James was the only one who knew what today was and why Sirius liked to keep his mouth shut about it. Why celebrate a day you were born, if it meant you were born into one of the worst families in existence?

"Actually, you know what, Remus? I think I might be ill." Sirius said as he started to pack up his books and tossed them into his bag. 

"Is something wrong, Mister Black?" Professor Flitwick had noticed him packing up to leave the class early and had come over to see what was going on.

"Yeah, Professor. I'm not feeling so great, I think it's that cold that's going around."

"Oh dear. Oh my, oh yes. Yes yes, pack up dear boy and go see Madam Pomfrey. She's been administering the Pepper-Up Potion for weeks now. You should have some too, just to be on the safe side."

"Thanks Professor," said Sirius with a meaningful nod and a weak sniffle, for effect. He could feel Remus' eyes burning on the back of his neck, and James was too busy trying to distract Peter for him by helping him with their lesson. He brought his hand down and knocked his knuckles on Remus' desk. "I'll see you later, Moony-"

"Let me come with you. If you've got what's going around then you're not going to want to risk collapsing in the hall."

A small smile twitched at Sirius' lips and he bent down close to Remus, muttering in his ear, "I'll be fine. Thanks for your concern though." He winked at the other boy before he swung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom. He skipped going to the Hospital Wing, walked through the Great Hall and left the school through the front doors. He had the perfect hiding place to spend his day, just beyond the Quidditch Pitch, close to Hagrid's hut, and just beneath the whomping willows. The walk to the shack was long, but familiar. 

There were a few beds in the shack, and only one that wasn't completely torn apart, which is where Sirius collapsed onto. There were a few deep claw marks that cut into the four-poster bed that Sirius dragged his fingers lightly across. He knew Remus meant well... 

"So this is fifteen..." Sirius muttered sarcastically to himself before he turned over on the bed to fall asleep.

\------

"Quiet, Peter! You're going to wake him up-"

"But Remus stepped on my foot- ouch! James!"

"Now I've stepped on your other one, shut up!"

"Can you both _please_ be quiet?"

Sirius blinked as he heard the voices around him. It took a few moments for him to orient himself and to remember where he was. _Shack, skipping class, birthday... Fuck._

He quickly sat up and turned around to see three faces of his friends staring back at him, each one of them looking as if they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't be. Peter had shoved something behind his back, Remus flushed, and James - well, James was grinning.

"What's going on?" Sirius looked at each of them for an explanation. Okay, he looked at Peter and Remus for an explanation. He wasn't going to get anything out of James, not with that shit-eating grin on his face.

"Nothing!" said Remus.

"It's a surprise!" said Peter.

"Well not anymore it isn't, genius." said James, playfully swatting at Peter's head.

"Oh..." said Peter.

"James," Sirius narrowed his eyes at his friend, "What did you do?"

James held up both of his hands, "Me? Nothing. Remus, on the other hand..."

"James," Remus pleaded, "Please-"

"Remus may have went to visit you after class in the hospital wing-"

"James!"

"And saw you weren't there and thought something must have happened to you-"

Remus slapped his hand to his forehead. 

"And when Madam Pomfrey had her back turned, he may have summoned your medical record to see if you even made it into the hospital wing today and saw certain information-"

Sirius looked at Remus, who was taking great care not to meet his eye. "You- you stole restricted documents from the hospital wing? _My_ personal documents?" he asked incredulously. 

Remus shifted his feet, "Well, technically, I merely borrowed them for a moment... As I put them right back in their correct order... Oh Sirius, why didn't you tell us?" With a sigh, Remus flicked his wand and the dark room instantly came alive. What he hadn't noticed, between all the talking and excuses, was that the room had been filled with several, brightly-coloured balloons. Somehow, they'd managed to enchant them so that little lights danced on the insides, making the colours even more vibrant than before. The charm looked like Remus' handiwork... Peter could never make anything that strong and James didn't care about little details like that. His three friends all took a step back and pushed forward an empty crate. A large cake sat on top, heavily frosted and filled with candles so elegantly, only the school's House elves could have been that precise. 

For once, Sirius didn't know what to say. For the first time in four years, he had a birthday cake. "I didn't want-"

"Mate," James pulled up a chair and clapped a hand on Sirius' shoulder, "This is long over-due. Just shut up and eat your damn cake. Don't worry. We didn't pick your favourite. It's mine. So don't go thinking we cared or something."

Sirius cracked a very small smile and looked up at his friends, his eyes lingering for a moment over Remus. "Thanks..."

"Happy Birthday, Sirius..."

Sirius blew out the candles, wishing for the rest of his birthdays to be exactly like this for the rest of his life.

\--

They ate, drank, and hung out all night. It was just like a full moon, without Remus' furry little problem. Sirius woke on November 4th, smiling. Peter had nearly set himself on fire and James and Remus, _Remus_ , of all people, entertained him with a chorus of Happy Birthday, sung in their own festive way. He stretched out in his bed and tossed the covers off himself, stopping when he saw something brightly wrapped laying on the end of his bed. Blinking, Sirius reached down and picked up the small package and glanced at the tag that was attached. 

__

_Happy Birthday, Padfoot xox_  
_I didn't want to give this to you in front of the others - they may try to steal them and they're just for you.  
_ _Love, Remus_

He smiled. The package was filled with all of his favourite sweets from Honeydukes - fizzing whizbees, chocolate frogs, Sugar Quills... 

So this was fifteen... 

He was starting to like it.


End file.
